Update: Launch of Educational Campaign to Address Period Stigma at Queen’s
February 27th, 2020
KINGSTON, ON – Over the course of the Fall semester, the AMS Executive worked closely with the AMS club Queen’s Period to tackle menstrual accessibility and stigma on campus. In addition to improving accessibility and availability of products, the Executive wanted to create an empathetic and positive climate towards menstruation on campus.
In November 2019, the AMS, in conjunction with the club, installed “Take one, Leave one” bins for menstrual products in male, female, and gender-neutral bathrooms in the JDUC and the Queen’s Centre. The aim of this undertaking was to improve access to period products on campus. There was also a survey conducted to gauge the culture on campus towards menstruation accessibility and stigma.
More recently, the AMS launched an educational campaign in collaboration with The Residence Society and Queen’s Period, to increase awareness and normalize period products in residences. The informative poster campaign is designed to establish a more supportive environment for all our peers.
“It is our hope that by establishing this campaign in residence, we can start educating students as soon as they come to Queen’s and foster a climate of empathy towards our peers who menstruate. We’re excited about all the work we’ve done with increasing menstrual accessibility and tackling menstrual stigma on campus. I look forward to seeing these efforts result in a wide-spread change,” said Jessica Dahanayake, AMS Vice President (Operations).
Please direct all media inquiries to Ananya Chakraborty, AMS Director of Communications, at or (613) 533-6000 x 75850
BACKGROUNDER
Alma Mater Society (AMS) – //www.myams.org
The central undergraduate student government at Queen’s University, the AMS represents over 18,000 students and is the oldest student government in Canada. There are over 1,000 student volunteers and 700 paid staff.